What are your Halloween Plans

What are your Halloween plans? What is your costume going to be?

AR 7th grade reading list recommendations

AR BOOK AR LEVEL

Book titles are listed followed by AR reading level number

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret 3.6
Around the World in Eighty Days 8.6
Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident 5.1
Babe: The Gallant Pig 6.6
Ballad of Lucy Whipple 5.8
Banner in the Sky 6.3
Bearstone 5.1
Birchbark House 6.1
Black Beauty 7.3
Black Pearl 6.5
Black Stallion Mystery 5.5
Boggart 6.1
Borrowers 5.6
Boys Start the War 7.6
Breathing Underwater 3.9
Brian's Hunt 5.9
Brian's Return 5.9
Brian's Winter 5.9
Bronze Bow 5.9
Bud, Not Buddy 5.1
Bull Run 5.3
By the Great Horn Spoon! 5.1
Caddie Woodlawn 5.6
Cages 4.5
Call It Courage 5.1
Call of the Wild* 7.3
Cat Ate My Gymsuit 4.1
Cat Running 5.6
Catherine, Called Birdy 6.4
Cay 6.7
Chasing Redbird 5.1
Children of the Wild West 6.9
Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter 5.7
Chocolate Touch 3.5
City of Ember 5.1
Coraline 5.1
Crash 3.6
Crazy Lady! 3.8
Crispin: The Cross of Lead 5.1
Crossing 5.8
Crucible 9.1
Dealing with Dragons 5.5
Devil's Arithmetic 4.6
Dicey's Song 5.8
Door in the Wall* 7.1
Double Life of Pocahontas 5.1
Downriver 4.9
Dragonwings 6.6
Ella Enchanted 4.6
Ender's Game 4.9
Esperanza Rising 5.3
Everything on a Waffle 5.8
Face on the Milk Carton 6.1
Farewell to Manzanar 5.7
Feathers 5.1
Fighting Ground 5.5
Flipped 4.1
Flush 5.1
Following Fake Man 3.7
Fourth Grade Rats 2.6
Freak the Mighty 5.5
Gathering Blue 5.1
Ghost Belonged to Me 5.8
Giver 5.7
Great Gilly Hopkins 6.1
Harriet the Spy 6.1
Harry Potter and the Chanber of Secrets 6.7
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 6.8
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 6.8
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 7.2
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 6.7
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 5.5
Hatchet 6.1
Homecoming 5.1
Hoot 5.2
House of Dies Drear 6.1
House of Scorpion 5.1
House on Mango Street 4.5
I Am Regina 4.4
Incident at Hawk's Hill 7.5
Incredible Journey* 8.5
Indian in the Cupboard 6.1
Inkheart 5.4
Journey of the Sparrows 4.6
Journey to Topaz 6.1
Just Ella 5.5
Kid Who Became President 4.7
King of the Wind 5.4
Kira-Kira 4.7
Legend of Sleepy Hollow 3.5
Letters from Rifka 4.2
Lincoln: A Photobiography 6.3
Lizzie Bright and Buckminster Boy 5.9
Lottery Rose 7.7
Man Who Was Poe 4.2
Matilda 5.7
Midwife's Apprentice* 6.1
Miserable Mill: A Series of Unfortunate Event's #4 6.2
Missing Gator of Gumbo Limbo 4.2
Misty of Chincoteague 5.3
Molly's Pilgrim 2.1
Mr. Tucket 5.1
Music of Dolphins 3.4
My Brother Sam is Dead 6.2
My Louisiana Sky 4.6
My Name is Not Angelica 4.8
Night Journey 3.5
Nory Ryan's Song 4.3
Nothing But the Truth 3.6
Olive's Ocean 4.7
Out of the Dust 5.3
Outsiders 6.7
Parrot in the Oven 6.1
People of Sparks: The Second Book of Ember 4.9
Philip Hall Likes Me. I Reckon Maybe. 6.1
Pictures of Hollis Woods 4.4
Pigman 5.5
Point Blank 4.3
Polar Express 3.1
Prince and the Pauper 8.4
Prince Caspian 6.3
Pushcart War 7.6
Red Pony* 5.1
Red Scarf Girl 5.1
Reptile Room: A Series of Unfortunate Events: Book 2 6.3
Return of the Indian 5.3
Riddle of the Rosetta Stone: Key to Ancient Egypt 6.1
Rifles for Watie 6.1
River 5.5
River Between Us 5.1
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry* 7.1
Running Out of Time 8.1
Sarah Bishop 6.2
Scorpions 5.1
Search for Delicious 6.9
Secret of the Indian 5.3
Seedfolks 4.3
Shades of Gray 5.3
Sing Down the Moon 6.3
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 4.5
Skin I'm In 4.1
Slam! 4.5
Slave Dancer 6.1
Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio 5.2
Something Upstairs 4.1
Sounder 5.3
Stargirl 4.2
Strider 4.6
Summer of My German Soldier 6.1
Summer of the Monkeys 6.2
Summer of the Swans 4.9
TaKeDoWn 4.3
Tale of Despereaux 4.7
Taming of the Shrew 8.8
Tangerine 4.3
Teacher's Pet 4.2
Things Not Seen 4.5
Time Machine 7.4
Touching Spirit Bear 5.3
Treasure Island 8.1
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle 5.3
Trumpeter of Krakow 8.1
Tuck Everlasting 6.3
Tuesdays with Morrie 5.5
Uncle Tom's Cabin 9.3
View from Saturday 9.9
Wanderer 5.2
Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963` 5.1
Weasel 7.1
Westing Game 6.3
When Zachary Ceaver Cae to Town 4.5
Where the Red Fern Grows 4.9
White Mountains 7.2
Wide Window: A Series of Unfortunate Events #3 6.3
Windcatcher 4.1
Witch of Blackbird Pond 5.7
Witches 4.7
Witness 5.1
Wringer 4.5
Zia 5.2
Zlata's Diary 4.3

Welcome Back to School

Welcome back to Castillero! I am looking forward to a great new year and teaching 7th grade. This class blog is dedicated to my Language Arts and Social Studies classes to help us use more computer technology in our learning process.

Spring Break

What did you do over Spring Break? Did you do anything fun?

Dragonwings

What is your opinion of the book? Write a short critique or review of the book. Did you like it or not? What was your favorite part?

College Basketball Championship

Did your team win? Do you have any exciting competition stories to share with the class?



North Carolina Wins NCAA Basketball Championship
By Steve Schy
Detroit
07 April 2009

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams, center, celebrates with his team after their 89-72 victory over Michigan State, 7 Apr 2009
In front of a tournament record crowd, the favored University of North Carolina has claimed the men's national collegiate basketball title.

North Carolina, which was making its record 18th appearance at the Final Four, started Monday night's title game in high gear. Unfazed by the wildly partisan Michigan State crowd, the Tar Heels hit six of their first seven shots and jumped out to a 17-7 lead. The 72,922 fans set a new record for the tournament championship game.

Michigan State helped by turning the ball over 14 times in the first half. North Carolina Coach Roy Williams gave credit to his defense and Ty Lawson's record eight steals.

"Down the stretch this year, we've been pretty doggone good," he said. "And, Ty was a huge part of that tonight. When he is really active, it is the front line of our defense and he is fantastic."

North Carolina continued to dominate, getting 17 points from Wayne Ellington to go up by as much as 24 points before ending the first half, with a 55-34 lead. The team's offensive explosion broke the old NCAA record of 53 points in a half. Michigan State's Travis Walton talks about falling behind early.


Travis Walton talks to reporters after game, 7 Apr 2009
"Every time we made a decent run and our crowd got into it, they made a great play," he said. "That is why they won the national championship, [Be]cause they [are] a great team."

North Carolina slowed down the pace of the game in the second half, content to take time off the clock and maintain the lead. Michigan State never really threatened, getting no closer than a 13-point deficit before North Carolina took the title, 89-72.

Ty Lawson led North Carolina in scoring with 21 points, while Ellington - who ended the game with 19 points - was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. He talks about winning the award.


Wayne Ellington talks to reporters after team win in finals, 7 Apr 2009
"Ahh, it feels good," he admitted. "You know, early in the season when my shot was not falling the way I wanted it to, I just stuck with it, fought through it, and it came back to me. And, it feels good. It shows hard work pays off and you really cannot give up on yourself. "

Goran Suton led all Michigan State scorers with 17 points. The victory was North Carolina's fifth national championship. After titles in 1999 and 2004, the win continued their streak of claiming titles every five years.

Earthquake!!!

Do you have any earthquake stories? In our novel Dragonwings, Moonshadow and his father experience an earthquake. What would you have done if you were there in such an earthquake?

What do you want to be when you grow up???

Paria suggested we ask about what our future plans are so what do you want to do as a career when you are older?

In Honor of College day here at Castillero

Do you see yourself going to college? If so which college do you want to go to? and Why?

Help our class get more books order scholastic online

Now you can order from scholastic books online and still help our class earn free books just go to

www.scholastic.com/parentordering

class user name: mserndt
password: castillero

Congratulations Black History Month Contest Participants

Congratulations to Ankita Ramakrishnan, Ethan Hu, Trevor O' Loughlin, Ethan Marquez, Cynthia Pu, Emily Bloomquist, Trinity Joroski and Taylor Nunes. You all did a great job on your projects and presentations.